So, yesterday after church I was sitting in my house thinking how sometimes we just have boring days….no joke. I was really thinking that. Berkley and Parker had fallen asleep, and not that I was wanting to go on an adventure or anything, I was just thinking how it was kind of a boring day yesterday. Well, not long after I had those thoughts, Scott came running up the stairs with Berkley in his arms. He looked a little panicked and showed me Berkley and asked me if I thought he was having a seizure. Well, I saw Berkley and totally freaked out. He was making this weird noise with his throat. I couldn’t tell if couldn’t get enough oxygen or what was going on. His arm was twitching really bad, and his eyes were wide open, but he was staring blankly at nothing. I waved my hand in front of his eyes and called his name several times, but he wouldn’t respond at all. He had drool coming out of his mouth, and I just started to panic. All I could think was that he was having a stroke, and he was brain dead now. The words brain dead just kept going through my mind over and over again. I called for an ambulance to come, and when they got here they took Berkley’s temp. He had a fever, and I didn’t even realize it. So anyways, I guess when little kids get fevers every once in a while you have a kid that will have a seizure. So, yeah, we went to the ER in the ambulance, and by that time Berkley was done having the seizure, but just wanted to sleep. When he finally woke up he was extremely ornery, but they got his fever to come down with Motrin. His blood sugar level was abnormally high, too, so I was concerned about that. But, by the time we left it was back to a normal level. It was really an awful experience. I honestly thought he was having a stroke and he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his brain, and he was just going to be brain dead. Anyways, I don’t know exactly what happened. Berkley and Parker fell asleep by each other, and I had no idea Berkley was running a fever, so I put a blanket on them, and went upstairs. Scott was asleep on the couch next to them. He said Berkley and Parker kind of started waking up, and Parker was trying to quiet Berkley down. Scott said he started making this really weird noise, kind of like he was trying to scream or cry, but it just sounded weird, and then after that, Parker told Scott that Berkley had the hiccups. Scott went to see if Berkley was okay….and he wasn’t. Anyways, I have never seen anyone have a seizure before, and it was super scary, and I really hope it never happens again. The doctors said it would probably not happen again, but we are just supposed to watch him closely. His fever is finally starting to go away, so I think he’s going to be okay. He just wanted to scare mommy a little.

We started methotrexate shots with Parker again. It was really sad. He saw Scott getting the shot all ready to go and I could tell he was starting to get worried. Once he realized what was going on, he just started crying and sobbing. He has the saddest cry, and it makes me want to cry, too. Poor kid. So, we did the usual, I hold him down and Scott gives him the shot. Hopefully the shots will fix his eyes, and we won’t have to use any other meds on him. If it doesn’t do the trick, then our next option is humira, which burns as you inject it into them….so that would be horrible. Keep your fingers crossed that the MTX works. We go see the eye doc again in a couple of months. By then we should know if it’s working or not. So, we are doing the shots weekly….for at least 2 years (I think). I need to ask the doc at the next appoinment to see if that’s really how long he is planning on having him on the MTX. Awwww……crazy life. I feel kind of crazy right now. For the most part, Parker really does good with all he has to go through (and Keaton, too). I think it’s the mom that has the hardest time with it all. But, anyways, things could still be a lot worse than they are, so I’m just grateful for what we have. What’s better than 4 little smiling faces?

Keaton had an OT appointment yesterday. At his previous appointment I had talked a little bit to the OT about maybe putting a cast on him again. Well, she decided to put it on him at his appointment yesterday, and boy was he mad. He was trying to kick her and was yelling and screaming and crying. It was a bad appointment, but somehow we got through it. I held Keaton down in the chair while the OT sat on his feet, so she didn’t get kicked in the face, and tried to cast him as quick as possible. Well, he was moving and screaming so much that she ended up not casting his fingers as much as she should have, so he can still grab toys with his right hand. But, that’s okay. Even though he can still do some stuff with that hand, he still can’t do a lot with it, so it is working. And, I only got a blurry picture of him, because he was so mad about his cast that he didn’t want any pictures at all. He looks happy in the pic, because he’s doing the laughing/crying at the same time thing. Anyways, after the OT casted him, and then left the room to go put the supplies away that she used (Keaton was still screaming), I was sitting on the floor with my back to Keaton. Well, he ran up behind me and hit me as hard as he could with his darn little cast. It hurt a little bit, but not a lot. I turned around and looked at him, and he looked soooooo angry. Now he’s doing okay. But, yeah, I’m worn out. Keaton needs help with lots of stuff now, because he can’t use his right hand. I’m glad they put it on him, though. He really needs to practice using his left hand, and this way he’s forced to use it. They will leave the cast on for two weeks—hopefully I survive that long.

Keaton saw the PT a few days ago. She said his ankle is still extremely tight, but she can bend it farther than before, so the casting did work to some extent. Now I just have to make sure I put his night brace on him and make sure he wears his day brace at least some of the day….which isn’t easy. My kids love being barefoot. I can’t keep shoes on them, let alone his DAFO (brace). We saw the OT for a few minutes a couple weeks ago. She thinks his hand is awfully tight again, too. So, I am going to have to step it up a notch and make sure he is using his left hand, and I need to start stretching his arm out again. I know, I’m bad, and I haven’t been so good at doing that lately. I get overwhelmed sometimes with all of Parker’s stuff we are doing and Keaton’s. Some days it gets to be so much that I just don’t want to do anything….bad attitude to have. At least I have cute little boys who make me smile and laugh everyday. K told me he wants to be a T-Rex when he grows up. I really love being a mom!

I liked this picture Jaxon “the tographer (as he has told me) took. His toys are very important to him.

Berkley is 18 months old now. He’s super cute and a fun kid to be around. Here are a few things he says:

Buppy (Puppy), Daddy, Mommy, Baby, BeeBee (Berkley), I doe know (I don’t know), Ma Ma (grandma), Annie (that’s our neighbor’s dog’s name. He really likes dogs), fsh (fish), shhhhhh, cheese, feet, shoes, socks, Hello, book…..

And, I’m sure there are more things he says. I just can’t think of them all right now. Berkley has been my “chunky” baby. All of my other kids were super skinny, but Berkley loves food. Usually he will eat just about anything….including food on the floor. Yum! Berkley is super cuddly. I love how cuddly he is and I will just sit and hold him, because I know I am going to miss it when it ends. He loves doing what his brothers do. He loves to dance along to music, and really likes getting on the computer and renaming all my files. He also enjoys a good fight with Keaton…yes they fight already. He’s such a fun baby. I can’t believe he’s already 18 months old.

This picture was taken by Jaxon.

P: “Jaxon you are going to marry a girl and she will be gorgeous!”  (It was meant to be an insult)

J: “Stop teasing me!”

Parker had his appointment today…and for the most part it went well. He was cooperative for the Doctor. They dilated his eyes and there is still mild inflammation in them. The doc said to up the eye drops to 4 times a day for a month and then go to 2 times a day after that (I think). And we will be starting methotrexate again. So, more shots which Parker is NOT going to be happy about at all. But, since it seems like the methotrexate was helping before, then that’s what we need to do. Every time he goes off the methotrexate (chemo, MTX, whatever you want to call it) his eyes flare up. Parker did really good at the appointment, but as for the appointment itself, I felt like we were being very RUSHED. This doc is extremely busy. Yeah, so I have no idea how long we are going to put Parker on the MTX….he just said for the “long-term.” He told us to up the eye drops (like I mentioned before), and I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to get the drops 4 times/day for a month and then cut it to 2 times/day until our next appointment, but  everything went so fast that I didn’t even get to ask questions, but oh well. We got there bright and early for our appointment and by the time we left, the office was already pretty much full. This guy has tons of patients, so it’s understandable. We will go back and see him in a couple months and then I think if Parker is doing good he is going to send us back to our regular eye doc. And,  the eye doc wasn’t that bad. I think he was just very stressed out and had a ton of patients to see. And, I still feel positive about everything. Parker is doing good. Every so often he complains that his knee hurts, and I think once we get him back on the MTX it will also help his knee. He really is doing good.

And, this is completely off the subject, but was super cool, so I had to mention it. Parker is my little mouse. He’s so quiet and he observes things, but doesn’t talk a whole lot. Well, I have tried teaching him his letters and stuff and it seemed like he wasn’t that interested. But, I got this little book at the library the other day with simple little words in it, like hat and mat and map and just that kind of thing. After a little coaxing, I got Parker to sit down with me, and I wanted to see if he recognized any of the words in the book, since he always comes and listens to me read to Jaxon, and he always comes and sits and watches (silently) while I help Jaxon with his homework. Well, he couldn’t recognize the words just by looking at them, but he started to sound them out. So, yeah, he can sound out simple words…..Who knew? And, not to give the wrong impression…he does still need help on a lot of words. He’s not just reading all by himself, but still I thought it was pretty amazing. He’s my little observer. When I was potty training Jaxon he totally watched what we were doing and not long after Jaxon was all potty trained, Parker started taking his diaper off and using the bathroom by himself. That was it….He was done potty training. What a lucky mom I am!

Scott posted the pictures he got in the Ensign on his blog. If you want to see which ones are his click here.

Jaxon had his finger up his nose (gross, I know).

Me: “Jaxon, please stop picking your nose.”

Jaxon: “Mom! I am not picking my nose. I am feeling what’s inside my nose.”